Paper piling machine for binding

ABSTRACT

The present invention disclosed herein is directed to a paper piling machine which collects and piles sheets of paper in a predetermined order. In particular, a machine is disclosed for collecting sheets of paper from different stacks and arranging these sheets into groups of a predetermined order by sequentially operating several pairs of air nozzles and air suction ports in succession to assemble each group onto a conveyor which carries the groups to a collection station.

United States Patent Takatou [151 3,656,740 [451 Apr. 18, 1972 [54] PAPER PILING MACHINE FOR BINDING [72] Inventor: Megumu Takatou, 2-banchi, l-chome,

J inno-cho, Atsuta-ku, Nagoya, Japan [22] Filed: Oct. 13, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 865,908

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 14, 1968 Japan ..43/8961 8 [52] U.S. Cl ..270/58 [51] Int. Cl ..B65l1 39/02 [58] Field ofSearch ..270/58; 271/9 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,575,891 3/1926 Ashby ..270/58 2,844,368 7/1958 Dexter et al. ..270/58 3,383,103 5/1968 Miller ..270/58 3,404,880 10/ 1 968 Porter, Jr. et al ..270/58 3,525,516 8/1970 Bushnell et a]. ..270/58 Primary Examiner-Jerome Schnall Assistant Examiner-L. R. Oremland Attorney-Donald Gunn [57] ABSTRACT The present invention disclosed herein is directed to a paper piling machine which collects and piles sheets of paper in a predetermined order. In particular, a machine is disclosed for collecting sheets of paper from difierent stacks and arranging these sheets into groups of a predetermined order by sequentially operating several pairs of air nozzles and air suction ports in succession to assemble each group onto a conveyor which carries the groups to a collection station.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures P'ATENTEDAPR 18 1972 SHEET 1 [IF 2 I N VEN TOR. fifayww mm 1 I PAPER PILING MACHINE FOR BINDING CROSS REFERENCE The present application corresponds to an application No. 43-89618 filed on Oct. 14, 1968, in Japan.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 'In the prior art, when collecting and piling multiple sheets of paper, such as the pages of a calendar, in a predetermined order, each different page is assembled into a separate stack and the various stacks are spaced on pedestals along a machine having a conveyor running just above the stacks. Multiple air nozzles are provided for successively elevating the top sheets of paper in each stack so that the uppermost sheet of paper in each stack is simultaneously gripped by one or more suction ports disposed above each stack and adapted for upward and downward movement. Then each sheet of paper gripped'by the several suction ports is raised thereby onto a plurality of uniformly-spaced transverse supports carried on a belt-driven conveyor running longitudinally beneath the elevated suction ports. In this conventional way, there is an economical disadvantage which necessitates a large air pump since many air-suction ports and air-discharge nozzles must be employed simultaneously in the operation of the machine.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a new and improved paper-piling machine which eliminates disadvantages of the prior-art machines by arranging a plurality of air-discharge nozzles and air-suction ports for only momentary operation and in succession so as to successively collect stacked papers one by one onto a number of uniquelyspaced transverse supports carried by a conveyor passing over the several stacks.

.Another object of this invention is to use a smaller-capacity air pump-and thereby save the operational expense of the paper piling machine by operating the machine as above mentioned.

The embodiment of this invention will now be described by way of an example in relation to accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. I shows a front view of a preferred embodiment of the paper piling machine;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the machine; and

. FIG. 3 shows an elevation view of a typical driving device employed with the machine of the invention.

With reference to the figures, in the paper piling machine depicted at 1, several frames or beds 2 are aligned along a selected axis and connected detachably in series with each other (seven beds are illustrated for purposes of describing the invention). A pedestal 3, on which a stack of previouslyprinted sheets P is placed, is arranged in the center portion of each bed 2 and arranged to position the uppen'nost sheet in that stack at a predetermined elevation.

By way of example, printed pages for calendars are stacked as at P on the several pedestals 3 so that those pages for November-December are on the frontmost pedestal 3 (extreme left in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) and those pages for September-October are on the next adjacent pedestal. Similarly, the pages for July-August, May-June, March-April and January-February are, respectively, arranged in succession on the remaining pedestals 3 and a stack of the covers of the calendar is positioned on the last pedestal (extreme right-hand end of the machine 1).

Belt guides or feed rollers 4 are arranged at each end of the paper piling machine 1 for carrying two paralleled conveyor belts 5 at an elevation just above each of the several stacks P and somewhat outwardly of the opposite sides of the several stacks.

Flexible transverse supports or conveyors 6 of equal width are secured across the belts 5 and arranged at a uniform interval or a fixed pitch B so that there is one more or one less of these conveyors than the number of the beds 2 always running just above the stacks. The following formula is employed to arrange the positions of the conveyors 6 in relation to the beds 2 with the forward end of the foremost (first or left-most) bed 2,

the gap or longitudinal spacing between the forward end of the second conveyor 6 and the rearward end of the foremost bed 2 is B/N, and the next gap between the forward end of the third conveyor 6 and the rearward end of the second bed is 2B/N, and so on. In this example, the selected number of beds 2 is seven (i.e., N=7); and, as a result, six of the transverse platforms or conveyors 6 are always moving along the upper portion of the seven beds, and consequently the gap mentioned above is respectively B/7, 28/7, 38/7, 48/7, etc. Thus, from left to right as shown in FIG. 2, the last gap between the forward end of the seventh conveyor (which is just coming up over the right hand roller 4) and the rearward end of the sixth bed is (6/7) B.

A driving shaft 7 is operatively positioned at the upper portion of each respective bed 2 and is operated by means of a suitable power source such as a motor (not shown). As shown in FIG. 3, a rotating cam- 8 is attached to each of the driving shafts 7 with an angular difference of 360/N in relation to the neighboring cams and is arranged to make one revolution while the said conveyors 6 move forwardly a distance equal to the pitch distance B.

A power transmission shaft 9 is rotatably disposed just ahead of each of the drive shafts 7 (left side of FIG. 3) and carries a sector gear 10. An interlocking lever 11 on each shaft 9 has a coil-spring 12 on its rearward end and a roller 13 attached to the forward end thereof and dependingly rolls on the periphery of itsrespective rotating cam 8 fitted to its driving shaft 7.

A driven shaft 14 is rotatably disposed beneath each respective power transmission shaft 9, and a driven gear 15 attached to a part is operatively co-engaged with its respective sector gear 10 on the power transmission shaft 9. Air-valves 16 connected to air suction and air discharge apparatus (not shown), join blast pipes 17 and suction pipes 18. A nozzle 19 is fixed to the forward end of each blast pipe 17 and positioned at the upper side of the rear portion (to the right in the illustrated drawing) of each stack of paper P.

A reciprocating connecting pipe 20 having a suction pot 21 at its lower end is connected with its respective suction pipe 18, and operatively reciprocated by a driving lever 23 which is fixed to its respective driven shaft 14 and a connecting lever 22 connected to its respective power transmission shaft 9 so these levers will move in parallel asthe cam 8 is rotated.

The suction ports 21 have the function of taking up the uppermost sheet of paper layersP. The numeral 24 indicates a typical paper-collecting assembly onto which the sorted papers are to be delivered.

In operation, the feed rollers 4 function to carry the belts 5 extending therebetween forwardly and simultaneously advance the conveyors 6 mounted thereon. The rotating cams 8 attached to the drive shafts 7 also begin to revolve in sequence. When the several interlocking levers ll raise and lower their forward ends (by virtue of the springs 12), the cam followers or rollers 13 on the forward ends of the interlocking levers follow the contour of the periphery of the rotating cams 8 and correspondingly rotate the sector gears 10 to progressively lower the levers 22 and the driving levers 23 in unison. Thus, the connecting pipes 20 and the suction ports 21 are successively lowered above the upper surface of the stacked papers P, while the rearward edges of the uppermost sheets of the stack are slightly elevated by a short puff of air from the nozzles 19 each time the suction port 21 is lowered to pick up a sheet of paper.

Thus, when the rotating cams 8 rotate further, the interlocking lever 11 is raised (as shown by the dashed lines), the valve 16 is closed to stop air flow from the nozzles 19 and the connecting pipes 20 ascend together along with the driving levers 23 and the connecting levers 22 by the reverse rotation of the sector gear and the driven gears 15.

In the course of the described operations, the uppermost sheet on the stack P is picked up by the suction port 21, carried up between and above the running belts 5 and placed on the next following conveyor 6 on the belts 5 by stopping the operation of the suction nozzle 19 when that conveyor 6 passes under the elevated sheet P. In exactly the same length of time, the driving shaft 7 completes one full revolution while each conveyor 6 is advanced forwardly a distance equal to the pitch B.

In the present invention, upon operation of the machine, seven calendar papers printed ranging from January to December and including a cover paper are sequentially piled on each of the conveyors 6 one by one as each conveyor passes over the rearmost bed 2 and progresses over each pedestal to just above the foremost bed 2. That is to say, during each seven complete revolutions of each driving shaft 7 a sorted group of seven papers will be carried beyond the foremost bed 2 and deposited on the paper-collecting portion 24 of the machine.

The present invention has in particular a striking feature of the mechanism wherein all nozzles 19 and suction ports 21 operate in satisfactory conditions even in the case of using an air pump of small capacity.

This is because that the present invention gives the formula:

A B (N l )/N 1 in setting up the positions of each conveyor 6 and each bed 2 at the upper surface of N beds 2 in number, and that the fixing angle of a rotating cam 8 against the driving shaft 7 has an angle difference of 360/N compared with the neighboring cams.

In the above embodiment of this invention, seven beds are used for producing calendars. However, various changes in the size, shape and number of beds as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims without separating from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A paper-piling machine adapted for successively removing sheets of paper from N stacks of paper arranged in sequence along a selected longitudinal axis at equal spacings of a length A and piling these sheets together into a single group, comprising: conveyor means adapted for movement in a selected path along said longitudinal axis above each of such stacks of paper and including a plurality of transverselyoriented carriers spaced at equal longitudinal intervals of a pitch distance B along said conveyor means and wherein said pitch distance B is determined by the formula:

B NA/N- 1; and

paper-elevating means selectively operable upon movement of said conveyor means for sequentially elevating sheets of paper in succession from each of such stacks of paper and onto each of said carriers, in turn, as each carrier passes over each stack of paper, said paper-elevating means including a plurality of N air-suction devices respectively disposed above such stacks of paper, first means operatively supporting each of said air-suction devices for independent upward and downward movements between upper and lower positions relative to their respectively-associated stacks of paper, second means operatively interconnected between said air-suction devices and said conveyor means and operable upon movement thereof for subsequently lowering each of said air-suction devices one at a time to their said lower positions in operative proximity of their respectively-associated stack of paper as one of said carriers is advancing theretoward and then sequentially elevating each of said air-.suction-devices one at a time to their said upper positions above said selected path just before said one carrier moves under said elevated air-suction device, and third means cooperable with said first and second meansfor independently developing a suction at each of said air-suction devices respectively only upon downward movement thereto toward its said lower position to withdraw the uppermost sheet of paper from each stack and then discontinuing such suction as said air-suction device reaches its said upper position and said one carrier moves thereunder to sequentially deposit such withdrawn uppermost sheets of paper on said one carrier as it successively passes under each of said elevated air-suction devices.

2. The paper-piling machine of claim 1 wherein said second means include a plurality of N eccentric cams respectively mounted for simultaneous rotation adjacent to said air-suction devices, each of said cams being successively angularly disference of 360/N and each of said cams having first and second distinctive peripheral portions, cam follower means operatively engaged with each of said cams, and means opera tively coupling each of said air-suction devices to a respective one of said cam followers for successively raising and lowering said air-suction devices in turn up'on sequential movement of said cam followers to their respective said first and second distinctive cam portions.

3. The paper-piling machine of claim 1 wherein said third means include suction-developing means, valve means coupled to each of said air-suction devices and said suctiondeveloping means, and means operatively coupling each of said valve means to a respective one of said cam means for successively developing a suction and discontinuing such suction as the one of said air-suction devices associated therewith is successively lowered and raised.

4. The paper-piling machine of claim 1 wherein said second means include: a plurality of N eccentric cams respectively mounted for simultaneous rotation adjacent to said air-suction devices, each of said cams respectively having distinctive peripheral portions and successively angularly displaced in relation to its adjacent neighbor by an angular difference of 360/N, and a plurality of N cam follower means respectively engaged with each of said air-suction devices and said cams and operatively arranged for sequentially raising and lowering said air-suction devices one after another into operative proximity of such stacks of paper and then raising said air-suction devices above said conveyor means in accordance with the particular angular position of its associated cam; and said third means include suction-developing means, and valve means responsive to the operation of said cams for successively developing a suction and discontinuing such suction at each of said air-suction devices as said conveyor means is progressively advanced in relation to the stacks of paper. 

1. A paper-piling machine adapted for successively removing sheets of paper from N stacks of paper arranged in sequence along a selected longitudinal axis at equal spacings of a length A and piling these sheets together into a single group, comprising: conveyor means adapted for movement in a selected path along said longitudinal axis above each of such stacks of paper and including a pluraliTy of transversely-oriented carriers spaced at equal longitudinal intervals of a pitch distance B along said conveyor means and wherein said pitch distance B is determined by the formula: B NA/N - 1; and paper-elevating means selectively operable upon movement of said conveyor means for sequentially elevating sheets of paper in succession from each of such stacks of paper and onto each of said carriers, in turn, as each carrier passes over each stack of paper, said paper-elevating means including a plurality of N airsuction devices respectively disposed above such stacks of paper, first means operatively supporting each of said air-suction devices for independent upward and downward movements between upper and lower positions relative to their respectivelyassociated stacks of paper, second means operatively interconnected between said air-suction devices and said conveyor means and operable upon movement thereof for subsequently lowering each of said air-suction devices one at a time to their said lower positions in operative proximity of their respectively-associated stack of paper as one of said carriers is advancing theretoward and then sequentially elevating each of said air-suction devices one at a time to their said upper positions above said selected path just before said one carrier moves under said elevated air-suction device, and third means cooperable with said first and second means for independently developing a suction at each of said air-suction devices respectively only upon downward movement thereto toward its said lower position to withdraw the uppermost sheet of paper from each stack and then discontinuing such suction as said air-suction device reaches its said upper position and said one carrier moves thereunder to sequentially deposit such withdrawn uppermost sheets of paper on said one carrier as it successively passes under each of said elevated air-suction devices.
 2. The paper-piling machine of claim 1 wherein said second means include a plurality of N eccentric cams respectively mounted for simultaneous rotation adjacent to said air-suction devices, each of said cams being successively angularly displaced in relation to its adjacent neighbor by an angular difference of 360*/N and each of said cams having first and second distinctive peripheral portions, cam follower means operatively engaged with each of said cams, and means operatively coupling each of said air-suction devices to a respective one of said cam followers for successively raising and lowering said air-suction devices in turn upon sequential movement of said cam followers to their respective said first and second distinctive cam portions.
 3. The paper-piling machine of claim 1 wherein said third means include suction-developing means, valve means coupled to each of said air-suction devices and said suction-developing means, and means operatively coupling each of said valve means to a respective one of said cam means for successively developing a suction and discontinuing such suction as the one of said air-suction devices associated therewith is successively lowered and raised.
 4. The paper-piling machine of claim 1 wherein said second means include: a plurality of N eccentric cams respectively mounted for simultaneous rotation adjacent to said air-suction devices, each of said cams respectively having distinctive peripheral portions and successively angularly displaced in relation to its adjacent neighbor by an angular difference of 360*/N, and a plurality of N cam follower means respectively engaged with each of said air-suction devices and said cams and operatively arranged for sequentially raising and lowering said air-suction devices one after another into operative proximity of such stacks of paper and then raising said air-suction devices above said conveyor means in accordance with the particular angular position of its associated cam; and said third means inclUde suction-developing means, and valve means responsive to the operation of said cams for successively developing a suction and discontinuing such suction at each of said air-suction devices as said conveyor means is progressively advanced in relation to the stacks of paper. 